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2013 Frist Humanitarian Awards

This week, I had the pleasure of announcing the winners of the annual Frist Humanitarian Awards. The awards are named in honor of one of HCA’s founders, Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., who was known for his caring spirit and philanthropic work.

Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr.

The award is given to a chosen few from a long list of nominees in three categories – Volunteer, Physician, and Employee. The purpose of the award is to recognize individuals who have gone above and beyond with compassionate actions both in our hospital and in the community. Dr. Frist believed that “good people beget good people” and I am confident that these individuals inspire others to live that philosophy. They are the ones that often care for others when no one is looking, and I want to share a little about why the three individuals were chosen.

Carolyn Mendel, Volunteer

Carolyn Mendel, Volunteer

Ms. Mendel, a.k.a. Cee Cee the Clown, is known around Chippenham Hospital for making our pediatric and adult patients smile. She is one of those characters injecting a little humor during what can be a scary experience for kids and their families, using laughter to lift everyone’s spirits. Ms. Mendel also leads a quilting guild that donates quilts to the premature babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Chippenham. These quilts provide comfort and warmth to some of our most vulnerable patients.

Dr. Nadia Blanchet, Physician

Dr. Blanchet is a dedicated surgeon who not only embodies our service commitments of compassion, accountability, respect, communication, teamwork and quality, but always makes her patients her priority. She donates her time to serve Access Now patients – financially disadvantaged residents of Richmond who lack health insurance. In addition to her local service, she travels to Saint Vincent and the Grenadine Islands to volunteer through the World Pediatric Project to help those in need. She has spent countless hours in surgery there and even coordinates patient transfers to the United States when needed.

Kimberly Mayberry, Employee

Kimberly Mayberry, Employee

Kimberly works in our Tucker Psychiatric Pavilion and is personally driven to serve those in great need. She travels on mission trips to New York City, helping those who are homeless and suffering from chemical dependency, and she supports local efforts during Richmond’s Compassion Week, whose mission is to support women who have suffered trauma from battery and are also homeless. She is a person who lived our service commitments before we ever wrote them.

I am proud of these individuals, and know they are just three of many who exemplify great service to others.

Are there examples where you have seen others show the service standards recognized in the Frist Award? I’d like to hear your story.

2 thoughts on “2013 Frist Humanitarian Awards”

Congratulations to all the recipients! What an honor!! We are so lucky to be surrounded by so many great people here at CJW. We also have a volunteer at JW, Cheryl Foster, who absolutely exemplifies the Frist Service Standards. I know her from her work at the desk in the JW Atrium. 100% of the time, she greets our patients and guests with a smile and asks if she may be of assistance. She then goes out of her way to make sure that they know where they are going and that their needs are met. Cheryl then waves and says goodbye to them as they leave. She is humorous and patient with everyone who comes in contact with her.